EAST GIPPSLAND RECOVERY 2030 PLAN Introduction By any objective socio-economic measure, the East Gippsland region is tracking behind most parts of Australia and is failing to achieve its full potential. The region requires major private and public investment to achieve sustainable growth. The combined impacts of drought, bushfire, coronavirus and government policy decisions has added to the poor outlook and a greater sense of urgency is required by all levels of government to initiate and complete job-sustaining projects. This draft paper is intended to promote community discussion as it highlights both the opportunity and the urgency for practical action by the Federal and State Governments yet-to-be delivered funding promises to assist in bushfire recovery. While simply delivering on existing funding commitments in a timelier manner would stimulate economic activity, there is a need for additional funds over the next decade to help East Gippsland achieve its full potential. The draft paper is effectively a ‘jobs to do list’ and it focuses on projects that are most likely to create long-term, sustainable jobs and build the social, economic, environment and cultural resilience of the region. Critically, the plan highlights the requirement for partnership funding from all levels of government and the private sector to maximise the benefits over the next 10 years. The coronavirus is highly likely to result in increased demand for regional travel destinations and a heightened interest in relocating to regional communities with the capacity to telecommute to work. East Gippsland needs to be ready to capitalise on those opportunities. The plan Our region was already struggling The broader Gippsland electorate has been adversely impacted by government decisions affecting traditional industries such as commercial fishing, timber harvesting and energy production. Job losses have been concentrated in some of the more remote parts of East and Central Gippsland, within the Local Government Areas of Wellington and East Gippsland shires. Latrobe City also has experienced major disruption and the flow on economic impact to the rest of the Gippsland electorate continues to be felt. A significant funding package is continuing to deliver a wide range of infrastructure and other upgrades in both Latrobe City and Wellington Shire, most recently the $252 million commitment to complete the duplication of the Princes Highway between Traralgon and Sale. Federal funding of $31 million and state funding of $10 million for the Macalister Irrigation District is available and there have been various announcements under the Drought Communities Program and Building Better Regions Fund. There needs to be greater urgency in delivering every project which has already received funding. It’s important to note East Gippsland Shire was excluded from the Latrobe Valley recovery package and has not received an appropriate level of funding to adjust to state government-driven job losses over the past 20 years. In addition, the combined impacts of drought, bushfires and coronavirus has highlighted East Gippsland’s lack of economic resilience and the need for a major funding package targeting both short and long term economic opportunities, over an extended period of time. We need to generate new opportunities While there are obvious opportunities to build on the region’s traditional strengths, growing the visitor economy has been identified in numerous strategic plans as critical to the future economic prosperity of the region. To date, these plans have not been supported with major capital funding and have largely failed to deliver projects on the ground to replace the employment opportunities lost in traditional industries. There is a need for a strategic approach to projects that add value to the region and are not simply maintenance or business as usual initiatives that could be funded from other sources. The visitor economy lacks resilience as the current attractions are seasonal and heavily focussed on the warmer months. The summer bushfires would not have been as devastating to the economy if East Gippsland had year- round attractions, and a better spread of visitor numbers. Consequently the focus of projects in this discussion paper is on initiatives that strengthen traditional industries and bolster the off-season opportunities across the region, and promote East Gippsland as a great place to live, work and visit. Upgraded amenity and enticing features to make people stop and stay In 2018, the Greater Gippsland region attracted 6.4 million visitors who spent over $1 billion supporting more than 10,000 jobs. Page 2 There is a recognised demand for high quality visitor experiences with the Gippsland Destination Management Plan 2030 highlighting the need to invest in new and existing markets and to invest in ‘place making’ to support the visitor economy. The strategy identifies Gippsland as ‘predominantly a drive destination’ with the Princes Highway described as a ‘major road spine’. There is no regular passenger transport air services in Gippsland and rail services east of Traralgon are severely limited. Current upgrades to the Gippsland rail line, predominantly funded by the Federal Government, are not transformational in nature and will not significantly improve travel times to East Gippsland. The Sydney Melbourne Touring Route provides one of Australia’s greatest touring routes but has undeveloped potential in terms of visitation by all sectors of the tourism market, particularly in East Gippsland. An historic lack of investment in quality infrastructure on public land by the State Government has undermined the potential growth in the visitor economy. The opportunity to improve drive touring routes and investing in high quality public infrastructure which encourages the touring public to stop and explore the region’s natural attractions is critical to increasing the appeal and extending the length of stay in the region. The tourism strategy emphasises that this includes signage, parking, roads, pedestrian walkways, cycle paths, lookouts and public amenities. There is also a compelling case for promoting the region’s indigenous heritage and making Gippsland’s tourism industry more accessible for older travellers and people with a disability. In addition, improving the liveability of the region with high quality public infrastructure will assist in attracting and retaining skilled professionals and securing a larger share of the active retiree market. We’re securing the infrastructure to get there Current upgrades across local roads in Gippsland, major works along the Monaro and Princes Highways, and rail upgrades such as the Avon River Bridge are helping to better connect the region. We are improving the road, rail, air and telecommunication connectivity which will encourage more people to choose to visit, and potentially move to Gippsland. The Federal Government’s commitment of an additional $60 million to the Princes Highway corridor has provided another opportunity to improve road safety and enhance the visitor economy in the region. But it must be more than road upgrades if the region is going to benefit socially and economically. Page 3 At this point, half of the Federal funding has been allocated from that commitment and various proposals have been put forward to utilise the remaining funds, with a focus on active transport opportunities such as rail trails, boardwalks and shared pathways. The Federal Government has also committed $448.5 million for Local Economic Recovery Projects in bushfire-impacted regions but there are no publicly available details on eligibility criteria or an indication of the share of funding East Gippsland will receive. It is understood that the State Government will need to match any funding but seven months after the bushfires, no projects have been announced. From an East Gippsland perspective, the recovery projects need to go beyond the visitor economy, and explore ways to add value to existing strengths and the potential to support growth in primary industries such as fishing, agriculture and timber. This discussion paper provides some of the immediate, medium and longer term practical opportunities which have been identified in consultation with local government and the community. It recognises that some projects are shovel ready and can begin almost immediately while other opportunities will take longer to develop and require additional planning and community consultation. It is not intended as a final or complete list and new opportunities are likely to be presented as the community engages more fully in the bushfire recovery process in the months and years ahead. PROPOSED PROJECTS Immediate Opportunities (construction to start within six months) Metung Hot Springs Total funding: $10 million Status: Shovel ready A well advanced proposal to develop Metung Hot Springs has the potential to provide a major boost to the tourism industry and support the growth of towns including Metung, Swan Reach and Lakes Entrance. The project proponents operate the highly successful Mornington Peninsula hot springs and an application was made to the heavily over-subscribed Regional Growth Fund. The project was deemed eligible for funding but was not successful in receiving any funding support. Page 4 Developing hot springs less than 15 minutes off the Princes Highway will provide an all-season attraction for the region which is currently subjected to fluctuating visitor numbers. The Metung Hot Springs project is likely to proceed on significantly longer timeframes and a much smaller scale, if government funding is not available. It is understood that a Federal-State Government investment of $10 million is likely to be matched by a further $10 million from the project proponents to fast track the project. Mallacoota abalone co-operative Total funding: $3 million Status: Shovel ready The Mallacoota abalone co-operative processing facility was completely destroyed by the bushfires, severely impacting the largest private employer in Mallacoota. Plans to reinvigorate the co-op and ‘build back better’ with a tourism experience added to the facility has left the co-op with a shortfall of $3 million in capital funding.